A sea of flat roofed buildings, cows wandering through the streets, and boys playing cricket in empty fields- India overwhelmed me before I left my window seat on King Fisher Airlines (a conglomerate brand that also manufactures popular beer and bottled water- imagine Bud Light airlines). As we’ve completed our first week it’s worth revisiting some of the biggest shocks to our system since landing in Hubli.
The Food
I wouldn’t count myself among Indian foods biggest fans before my arrival here. In fact, I’ve probably only willing ate Indian food a dozen times before (twice at Global Impact meetings). That being said – the food has been great! As a country with a vast vegetarian population- you have to go out of your way to eat meat. Our entire team has been veg thus far- and the meat eaters among our group have carefully considered a number of arguments why we should never eat meat again. I impress myself every day the streak continues, but I’m really starting to crave some chicken. It has also been interesting to adjust to the preferred eating utensil- the right hand!
Electricity/Water
As Jon’s pocket India guide says- no city in India has a full day’s supply of water. Most buildings here collect water in big tanks on the roof when the government turns the water on in the morning. When it goes off, gravity becomes important (the lower you are the better). The electricity has also been pretty inconsistent- so far we’ve had three extended blackouts, often well over an hour. Our India colleague Golden has just informed me that we are lucky that the electricity has been this good, so let’s hope it holds up.
Animals
I expected to see a lot of cows on the streets and that has certainly been the case. They are pretty docile and tend to do their own thing- occasionally blocking traffic or issuing a loud “moo” to let everyone know they’re here. I’ve been surprised to see a pretty sizable population of stray dogs roaming the streets. They’re joined by goats and the occasional pig/hog. When we told one of the sex workers (referenced on the previous post) that this was not the case in America she was pretty surprised. Thankfully there is plenty of litter and food in the open lots here for these critters to munch on.
The Head Bob
In the US head gesturing works as follows: up and down = yes and side to side= no. Indians are known for what many call “the head bob”. It could best be described as the accelerated tilt of your head from left to right (sort of a cross between the US’ two gestures). The head bob is both confusing, as it can mean everything from yes to maybe to absolutely not, and also addictive (I’ve noticed a number of us unconsciously imitating it.)
Driving
In addition to driving on the left side of the road (I’ve accidently waited on the right side of cars here twice- the passenger’s seat in the US, but driver’s seat here) the motorists here also operate using echolocation. By that I mean they forgo mirrors and sight for the constant use of the horn. It’s pretty smart between all the animals, motorcycles, and people walking on the streets – but makes for quite the cacophony.
As I struggled to adapt I’ve learned a great lesson from an unlikely passenger on our flight from Bangalore to Hubli – Jaishree Deshpande (the billionaire co-founder of the foundation funding our project). She told us two stories about her move from India to Toronto that made me feel better about my own adjustment, describing how she had initially thought pepperoni was a pepper and how she had first distrusted the hot cocoa vending machine because she didn’t see a cup. As foreign as this place was initially, it’s starting to feel like home.
- Dan
No comments:
Post a Comment